Customer Reviews

Samsung Rugby a837 Phone, Black (AT&T)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Got this phone due to having others drop and suffer damage. I read every review I could find online. Some people said and are correct that the PTT button on side is easy to press-it is but you learn to pretty much stay away from it. The speaker on front of phone is BY FAR the best I've ever heard. Once you answer or start a call you can activate the speaker and close the phone and enjoy the hands free-great in vehicle or if doing a project. I drive a diesel work truck and have NO problems hearing the speaker on this phone. The camera for a 1.3 mega pixel actually takes better pics than I expected. I have not activated the GPS since I have one and I think the $9.99 a month is too much for how often I'd use it. The buttons have a very good feel. I've already woked out in the rain and the phone got very wet-still woks No problems. The ringtones that come on the phone are probably the worst I've had yet. I use phonezoo.com (FREE) to download graphics and ringtones to phones now. Its a great free site. The call quality is very good. My wife says it is ALOT better than my previous Sony and my last Motorola. This is my first flip-phone that I've had and kept- I tried one a few years ago, it was to thin and I just couldn't open it very easily w/ one hand. That is no problem on this phone. It is a little thicker than most flips, but that has to due to its ruggedness. I would give this 5 stars if not for the fact as many other reviewers say about the front display not staying on very long. Kind of petty but I feel it is a legitimate gripe. I have not taken any videos yet so I can't comment on that. Also, want to mention that if you have alot of experience w/ different brands of phones, you probably don't need to open the manual. I have not yet and I had the phone figured out very quickly.

I purchased this phone for my fiance at the same time I purchased my Palm Centro. We found that the rugby is not as advertised. First of all, the phone gets horrible reception. In areas where my Palm would get at least 2 bars, the Rugby get no signal or even worse, goes into emergency mode. The calls constantly drop or the phone does not ring at all. Secondly, the back pops off when dropped. For a phone that's supposed to be tough, it hardly lives up to expectations. At this point, the back has been damaged and after talking to both AT&T and Samsung, neither company could replace the back or explain the poor cell signal. It's just been a terribly disappointing experience, and I don't think we'll ever buy Samsung again.

great phone for us contractors and outdoors people....heavy and large by todays phones standards....glad i have it after going through phone after phone that couldn't handle the rain, cold, drops etc..

This phone suits me perfectly. It fits in my hand, extends from my ear to my mouth and best of all is solid and rugged. It feels like it will never break. It has a lot of wireless capabilities (internet,video,GPS, Push-To-Talk, etc.) but through AT&T I've inactivated these. I don't really want to pay extra for this stuff since I have my laptop with me quite a bit and it does for me what I need. I've had this phone now for three months with really no complaints. The camera takes pretty decent pictures too. It has USB connectivity so pictures/video can be directly downloaded to a computer.

I loved the Nextel Phones for their ruggedness. But AT&T is the only service I get at my house...
Before this came out I had destroyed three AT&T phones, it was getting expensive. I purchased this without renewing a plan; that hurt a little bit....
I have had it for a month and it gets better reception in my house than the previous three phones. So it is a step up from the "normal" phones. I can only assume it is because of its MIL-SPEC Grade.
It has become common thought that cell phones are disposable, so I think quality has suffered. Plus if your phone dies after a year, you are stuck in the contract and are not ready for an "upgrade". You have to buy out of pocket...Poor quality phones are your problem, not the phone companies...
After a month of hard use the phone is doing well. It has suffered a drop or two of the type that killed my Razor.
It has Yellowpages and GPS directions, but I have not used them. It is nice to know that the options are there if I do need them....
I recommend this phone if you are blue collar or just do a lot of work outside.

More that two weeks and my family plan with 3 phones is working just fine. I think we have tried all the features now except the PTT which I dont want to pay extra for. My kid pays extra for texting on her phone, but the wife and I don't need that feature. I am happy just to have a dependable phone with long battery life and a camera - just in case I have to take a pic and my real digital camera is home. I read a lot of reviews before buying my phones at amazon for a penney each. We all wanted the ruggedness of the Rugby. All the other vendor's rugged phones had less than half the battery life, so we decided on this one. So far - so good. I especially like the speaker phone, loud and clear as well as the big easy to read numbers. You cant go wrong with this one. We got a yellow for my wife, a yellow for my daughter and a black for me just so we don't get them mixed up.
Boyd

I bought this phone specifically because I've had 3 or 4 phones damaged beyond repair, mostly from being dropped, thrown (not by me, but at me), water-logged, etc. And, I need my phone to be a phone - not an mp3 player, not a small version of a PC, I just want to be able to talk.... this phone accomplishes that. I've had it a month now, dropped it like 3 or 4 times - once on tile - and you'd never know. It's definitely bigger that your standard wireless phone, flipped open it's like talking on a house phone. The speaker is great. The camera is probably better than my hand held camera, and you can edit photos on the fly. The menu is easy to navigate and you can even configure the "Options" screen, which is pretty cool. The battery lasts longer than any other battery I've had, I've only been charging every four or five days.

The only thing I don't like is the PTT button. I wish that could be disabled (maybe it can, I don't know). I inadvertently hit it a lot when I open the phone, and it asks me if I want to set up PTT - which I don't.

Like I mentioned in the title, it's like the Hummer of cell phones.

Bought two of these phones 5 months ago; my wife and I love them. My wife had gone through 3 phones in a year due to various accidents. We have both put these phones through their paces: dropping, throwing, kids playing with them, at the beach, in the water, etc. The phones continue to perform well. We are not frills-oriented folks; this phone is a good communications tool that survives tough treatment.

My wife got this for me. I really like the larger keypad and the overall "tough" feeling of the phone. I've dropped a few phones in my time. I really like how it feels like you could rough it up and it'd still be fine. I showed the phone to my brother, and we were ordering one for my brother and Mom next. To me, it is probably better and stronger and easier to use than the Pantech Breeze that at&t recommends for the older set. My Mom really likes the feel of it. My brother really needs a good, tough phone because he has been through a few. He works and goes to school so he is on the go all the time and this should work.

I just bought the rugby phone 4 days ago from at&t because I was due for an upgrade. I need a rugged phone because I am always outside and Im very rough with my phones. I wanted to get the verizon gzone because they are very durable phones and alot of my friends have it however it isnt possible for me to switch to verizon. I thought that at&t would never come out with a rugged phone but they finally did. So far I love the phone. Its simple to use once you get used to it (like all phones you have to get used to) but it still has some good features like the gps and music player. It is big enough that you can easily push the buttons and so that it feels much more durable. I only wish that it was completely submergable like the gzone is.
The only thing that i do not like about the phone is the outside display. You can change the setting so that it shuts off anywhere between 5 and 60 seconds but once its off you either have to hold the speakerphone button in for about 5 seconds or you have to open and close the phone to see the front screen.
Besides this the phone seems great. It is loud enough for me to hear and the speaker is loud enough when people are talking. The camera takes pretty decent pictures and videos and its easy enough to use
I think this phone will last alot longer than my other ones. And if not i have a two year warranty from at&t